I am simply in awe of American Express Labs. Its been around for a while now, but for several reasons believed that this was perhaps time to present and analyse the same.For those who are new to the concept..."Our mission is to highlight the important ways that innovative new products and services from American Express continue to improve the Cardmember experience. By showcasing innovative pilot programs and highlighting opportunities for Cardmembers to receive access to emerging technologies and innovative applications before they are made available to the public, we are providing a framework for understanding the trends and developments impacting the future of innovation." They've tried out some rather neat stuff including Virtual agents that guide you through the website or the very cool "Entertainment Access spotlight" which has posts on updates in the entertainment scene and even an introduction to their mobile access application.Customers are invited into the beta versions and participate in the trials and usage of the various service offerings. This is quite distinctive as they have pulled it off quite well and its heartening to see that there is a clear pipeline of innovations that they have committed to.Equally amazing is the fact that they have veered from the beaten path and have attempted to blend into the lifestyles of their customer segments, rather than approaching the conventional "hardsell" route. Also believe that they have created a platform that is fairly credible and consistent with the brand experience. They've also not adopted the classical "I'm there on facebook / myspace" 2.0 approach, which lacks the punch, and the brands look rather out of place.Looking forward to more exciting stuff from the folks at American Express...
An iconic brand is a legacy that most marketers would like to bequeath to the world. A brand that builds a strong relationship over the customer life-cycle and consistently delivers value at various life stages, yet retaining its charm and appeal allowing customers to clearly express their personality in a distinctive manner!
The last decade has been an excitingly turbulent one for financial services brands, driving a roller coaster of emotions for consumers alike. These brands have expanded the market, taking risks of market expansion in their stride and expanding the customer base. Having providing a financial identity to several customers and enhancing the expenditure appetites, the players have successfully fueled the growth of a wide array of industries including the housing, travel and retail fashion sectors.
These brands were viewed as the "dream merchants" that not only showed you the dreams, but actually financed them. Instant loan approvals, cashbacks, rock bottom rates and flexible pricing structures were the darlings of every consumer from New York to New Delhi!
With the collapse of the housing markets across the globe, the meltdown in the financial services space has commenced with rising defaults across all formats of secured and unsecured lending. With the nationalization of Freddie and Fannie, the mortgage majors that fueled the palatial dreams of millions, the market has really turned a corner.
The dream merchants are now perceived as the vultures, as banks and financial institutions are calling in the loans, raising rates or pushing the envelope on the collection engines to curb delinquencies and quell defaults. The monthly statements carrying special offers and treats have now proven to be the messengers of evil debits.
In these trying times, wherein economic survival is in itself the prerogative, how should financial services brands' retain their vigour and connect with their customers? For customers facing challenges in loan repayments, these brands may find it increasingly tough in retaining their emotional connect and relevance.
So, is it really possible to retain the inconic "dream merchant" status even during and post recessionary trends for customers. And moving to an even more pertinent question, do we have brands in the financial services space that are truly iconic! Where lie the Cokes and Apples of the financial services world?
It is often viewed that lending is a "serious" business and meeting consumers financial needs is the stuff of "serious" brands. American Express, Wells Fargo, ABN AMRO, RBS have hit the list of the worlds 100 top brands, but yet again "iconic" fervour is not something that comes to mind too often in their association.
Where arst thou James Dean?
I am simply in awe of American Express Labs. Its been around for a while now, but for several reasons believed that this was perhaps time to present and analyse the same.
